Duke's Dream
by americananime
Summary: Rating to be safe, even though I don't think it needs it. Duke dreams about going back to his past life ... and gets a call back to reality.


Duke's Dream  
By: americananime  
______________________________  
  
AA's note: Deep reflection on Duke's part. I don't know, I'm bored out of my mind because my little cousin is on my DC (I got a DreamCast! Yayayayayay! DreamCast! SEGA forever! Death to Nintendo! Down with the Pokefreaks!)  
  
Duke: *clears throat* Can we move on to MY story now? I'm sure these nice people don't want to hear about your theory that there was a conspiracy started by Nintendo so that SEGA would merge.   
  
AA: Oh, all right. YOUR STORY?! *camra pans out as we here AA yell at Duke about writers and characters, and which one is more important*  
  
Legal Junk:  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mighty Ducks or anything related. Disney does. I am not making any money off of this. Thank you.  
  
Archive and Distribution Rights: I give rights to www.fanfiction.net and DAFT Mailing List, exclusively. Please do not e-mail me and ask to post my story on any other website and/or public message board. And most importantly, do not claim it as your own, because I shall find you.  
  
Enough Legalities! Phil made me do it! On to the story.  
  
Oh, Season's Greetings, everyone!  
__________________________________  
  
The long coat on the lone figure flapped in the breeze, as he slowly walked across the sidewalk.  
  
The temptation was growing stronger, ever stronger. Life with the Mighty Ducks was restless, and he was beginning to long for his old life.  
  
Who hadn't longed for their old life, out of the team members? But everyone had what they wanted, except for maybe Wildwing. Nosedive was still a video-game playing comic geek, Grin was still master at ... well, whatever it was he did, Tanya was still a scientist, and Mallory was certainly still a commando.  
  
He and Wildwing ... Well, maybe they had it in common. Wildwing had been forced into this, with almost no options. Join the Resistance or waste in a Work Camp. And then, be leader or let everyone down.  
  
Those were tons of options, all right.  
  
Duke had joined the Resistance by his own will, but not to his own liking. Really, it had been a temporary gig, or so he had thought. It was just to stay alive, untill the nightmare was over.  
  
But the nightmare hadn't ended.   
  
And now they were stuck on an unimportant planet that was a speck in a small galaxy called the Milky Way. And Duke had to stay there, on the team, being a good boy.  
  
It had almost felt good, back with FalCone, like old times. He just kind of missed it, and he was kind of dazed, all the time now.  
  
He wondered the halls of the ducks' pond, restlessly, every day now. There was nothing to do in the day, and nothing to do in the night, except for Dragonus and games.  
  
It was summer time, accounting for the warm night, and there wasn't any hockey. Dragonus had been underwater for a long time now.   
  
He walked down the sidewalk, and suddenly turned as he saw two men running down the street, carrying something in a large bag.  
  
His pupils decreased to tiny dots as he squinted in the spotlight of a helicopter. Must have been a big heist.  
  
As the two ran past, they shoved the bag in Duke's hands.   
  
He didn't move, numb with shock. Then his adrenaline started working again, just as the cops caught up with him.  
  
There was a quick choice; run and feel the joy and the risk of the game again, or explain, even though the cops couldn't believe him.  
  
He ran, his years catching up with him as he did. He skidded over the southern California sidewalks, through the city, only seeing blurs as he passed.  
  
Joy crossed his face, feeling the pure excitement and not the pain in his legs.  
  
He had won, he had gotten away, but what had he gotten away with? He opened the bag, seeing a jewel the size of his head, and grinned.  
  
He was home free, halfway across the city now. But, he saw by the Disney Land lights that he was surrounded.  
  
"Put the jewel on the ground and put your hands in the air," Yelled a voice.  
  
Duke dropped the gem, coming down to earth again, and let out a sigh. He had grown rusty, and maybe a bit cocky, thinking he had escaped. If only he had run farther, if only.   
  
* * *   
  
The trial went well. Ten to twenty years in jail, they said. Everything looked fine for Duke. Sure, ten or twenty was a long time, but he still could deal with that.  
  
But he couldn't deal with the hurt look in his teammate's eyes. Nosedive's hero had just betrayed him; Mallory's love was going away for a long time.  
  
* * *   
  
The security alarms went off as Duke made a dash for it, fifteen years after his trial. The years caught up with him as he ran, escaping, and his pressures gained on him. He knew this was the last stand, that he was about to literally drop dead ...  
  
Suddenly, the gray drake sat up in his bed, sweat running down his face. He folded his legs, Indian style, sighing and panting at the same time.  
  
A knock came at the door.  
  
"Duke?" Said a faint voice.  
  
"Yeah?" Duke called, suprised to feel tears on his cheeks.  
  
The door slid open. Nosedive stood before it, carrying a sleeping bag and a teddy bear.  
  
"Hey, Duke?" Nosedive ask, a little shy.  
  
"Yeah?" Duke ask.  
  
"Wildwing's outa town and I kinda had this really weird nightmare ... "  
  
"Come on, pile up on the floor," Duke gestured for Nosedive to lay down.  
  
Sleep came quickly to the young drake, but it didn't come to the older one as quickly. Would he ever act like that? Would he make those choices, even with so much to loose? He looked down at his young friend, who was like a brother to him. He grinned, and shook his head. No, not ever with that much to loose.  
  
END  
  
~americananime, out~ 


End file.
